Of Shadow and Sun
by TucaoNormal
Summary: She is the performer in the spotlight, and she is the producer in darkness. She is fireworks under the stars of summer, and she is red leaves in the azure sky of cold autumn. When two parallel lines meet, when two unfamiliar hearts collide with each other, when light meets darkness, a story unfolds. However they gradually find that no matter how they cannot escape fate.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Your Lie in April, Saekano or any anime characters consisted in the novel.

* * *

"The one in her loneliness will give way to useless sighs. The other in vain will yearn and crave. The one will be like the reflection of the moon in water; the other like a flower reflected in a mirror. Consider, how many drops of tears can there be in the eyes? and how could they continue to drop from autumn to winter and from spring to flow till summer time?"

_Vain Knitting of the Brows_, from Chapter 5 of _The Dream of the Red Chamber_ by Cao Xueqin

"If you stand on the pure white stage, then my stage is total darkness."

Kagura Mea to Minato Aqua, December 2018

**Prologue**

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

The words somehow popped out of the head of an old man with white hair on the sidewalk, looking up at the pale blue sky.

But it wasn't April, but late September. The red leaves on the trees beside the street swayed with the slight cold wind like flickering candles, while the yellow leaves lying upright on the ground seemed like wax dripping from a candle. Nor did the passer-bys draw their heads into their chests as Winston did; instead, they held up their heads and breathed in the clean and refreshing air of autumn, stepping on the "wax", with which they played a music peculiar to the season that seemed to soften the chilly autumnal air.

The old man walked slowly, his eyes wandering around, looking for someone in the crowd, or not for anyone at all. He seemed to be looking for a shop on the street, but he didn't even know its name. Someone once remarked that "he has that look in his eyes that only a tramp has."

The old man walked on, passing the cars and the crowd, somehow feeling a little lonely. Some people were aware of his strange eyes and took a look at him, but most of them were still busy with their own business, rushing to the next destination on the schedule.

He was no exception: it's just that he didn't know where his next destination is. But he saw no shame in it, since even, he thought, even they didn't know where they were going but just following routines.

He then wandered into a roadside cafe.

He knew everything there: the familiar setting, the familiar cutlery, the familiar windows, even the decorations he had seen last Christmas. Indeed, it was one of his most frequented cafes, but he knew the way to it so well that he could wander in it like wild geese heading south for the winter.

There were no lights on, so it was dark. And the waiters were lazy, some even sleeping. They were not to blame: he was the only other customer in the cafe.

But when he saw the person, he was so surprised that he could not speak.

Why is Kaori here?

Yes, the old lady who sat by the window and looked out of the window was indeed one of the most popular young girl performers of the day, the legend of their generation, the uncrowned king of violin competitions – Miyazono Kaori, who had received unanimous praise both inside and outside the music community though she won no prize. Her old vivacity and vitality had been worn away by the years, her sun-like golden hair had turned to silver, her beautiful face was wrinkled, but the vitality of her blue eyes had not yet faded. Some cold sunlight pierced through the window and landed on a corner of the table, but it kept her out of sight, leaving her in the darkness.

She was looking out of the window at the blue sky, her chapped lips trembling.

He could not believe that he had met her in the most unlikely of places, that she had appeared there: she had never been to this cafe since more than fifty years before.

He stepped forward cautiously and asked:

"Are you Miyazono Kaori? What are you doing here?"

There was no answer as if a computer had crashed.

But her mouth was still murmuring something vaguely, like the hum of a dead machine.

The old man was about to take another step when Kaori slowly uttered a few words without looking back:

"Get out of here, Hachiman. You don't belong here."

Doesn't belong here? What does she mean?

He stopped and stood next to the old lady, afraid to take a step closer – perhaps because of Kaori's warning, perhaps because he seemed to know what secret was buried there.

But he couldn't remember what special meaning there was. Maybe...

Kaori's murmuring words went into his ears, and Hachiman's brain suddenly exploded with a sound of thunder, and he almost fell backwards.

"Megumi..."

Kato Megumi!

Yes, this is a special place for both Megumi and Kaori.

Hachibana immediately retreated into the corridor, his eyes wide, his right hand unconsciously on his lips, silent.

Now that I know why she's here, I might as well leave her alone.

He stood aloof like an audience examining a clown's antics.

Except, unlike the circus, there was no laughter. There was only silence, absolute silence.

Only Kaori's chapped lips moved slowly, and the rough vocal cords were speaking words that were already blurred.

"How are you doing over there, Megumi? Every year I ask you this question in my mind, but you never answer. Are you mad at me?

"You must be angry with me. You must be. You care about me so much and love me so much, but I misunderstand you too much and apologize too little. You must be angry.

"Just as you might look indifferent to anyone, you actually care more about them than you do about any guy crying in his friend's arms. That's why you're angry, isn't it?"

The old lady's soliloquy crushed against the windowpanes and were bounced back, lonely as if a check had not been cashed. She still looked out of the window and wondered if she could see the girl named Megumi.

"Megumi, remember what I said to you? I said, ' I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.' I remember there was a deep fear on your face.

"But I was innocent then, I was naive, I didn't know the story between light and darkness. I didn't know that the world was not as beautiful as I had imagined it to be, but often full of darkness, pain and suffering.

"I didn't know that you had already seen through the darkness, lost to everything sensitive, but my intrusion crashed it. I didn't know, either, that a stubborn you would twist the outcome of the story for me and break the curse of fate – but left me.

"I have come through very well now, if it is very good to be alone, with no spouse and children. I have colleagues, friends and fans, but they are not as true to me as you are. You are gone, and I am still wandering in the world."

"I've always..."

A drop of tears fell on the white table, like a flying bullet making contact with the glass.

"Megumi... Megumi..." Kaori began to sob intermittently. Her voice was small, as if she did not want the world to hear her; but in this silent corner, it was loud enough.

"I don't know... I don't know..."

"I'm lonely... I'm all alone..."

"Why must I be the light, and you the darkness..."

"Megumi, where... are you?"

There were no more tears on the table. Kaori's body gradually fell back in the chair.

Hachiman, who saw this, suddenly felt a tickle in his throat. He suddenly felt like shouting "waiter!" with all his might then immediately sending Kaori to the hospital then accompanying her in the ward for 10 days and half a month then...

"Megumi? Is that you?"

Kaori's voice suddenly went up, her head lifted, her eyes full of tears looking at the empty darkness in front of her, as if Jesus were looking up to his Heavenly Father.

"Have you - have you come to take me home?"

There seemed to be a sound in the air, as if Megumi were responding to her.

Hachiman instantly cut off his impulse, his stretching-out hands also shrank back.

"Yes! That's right! I knew you wouldn't leave me!"Kaori began to cry happily, and slowly lowered her head and stretched out into the dark corner, just like a child in its mother's arms.

"Megumi... darkness... my mother... please don't abandon me..."

It grew fainter and fainter, like a candle reaching its end in the darkness.

At this moment, Miyazono Kaori's life at its end completed the cycle of life and death, darkness and light: life comes from dust and returns to dust.

Instinctively she reached out her hand and embraced the eternal darkness, death, and peace.

Just as a newborn baby embraces this world.

"Let me fall into your eternal, warm arms..."


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Your Lie in April, Saekano or any anime characters consisted in the novel.

**Chapter 1**

It was love at first sight.

The first time Miyazono Kaori saw Kato Megumi she fell madly in love with her.

She saw Megumi fainted on the ground in a snowy day. At that time, she did not know Megumi's name, her origins, and did not expect that she would encounter such a surprise when she came out for a walk on this damn freezing day.

Even though it was February, the weather was ridiculously cold, and the snow was pervasive. Withered tree branches were under the weight of snow, and from time to time it fell from above, sometimes with broken branches; the earth was by a thick layer of snow, stepped on by pedestrians and squeaking, like opening the foam package of express delivery and leaving a mark on time; even the taste of snowflakes was in air, as if taking a deep breath can swallow the cold winter into your mouth.

This terrible weather can be sad; after all, not everyone can think of spring catkins like the talented girl in ancient times.

To Kaori it was no exception.

Walking lonely, she suddenly stopped and looked up at the gray sky. There was a stream of piano sound in her mind, and she almost cried.

Then she encountered her fate.

Kaori's complicated thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a pink object jumping into her sight. She gazed at the ground, saw the young girl, and couldn't help but be taken aback and took a step back.

The mysterious girl – Kaori didn't know her name yet, so let's call her that – about three or four years older than Kaori, with short black hair, wearing a thin pink jacket, black skirt and red shoes.

She was lying quietly in the white snow, her face was calm and serene, and a soft and sweet smile seemed to tell Kaori that she was not a poor girl who fainted due to the cold, but a sleeping beauty waiting for the prince. She looked like pearls left on the beach, polished by the years.

Thank goodness she didn't seem to be dead. Kaori thought with some black humor.

But Kaori also knows that now there was no room for joking. She looked around nervously, hoping to find some shelter to take her, and immediately saw the hope: not far from the fainting girl was a cafe in operation, and the warm light inside dispelled Kaori's some worries.

Maybe she was on her way there but fainted instead? Kaori thought.

But it doesn't matter now. Kaori immediately crouched down, delicately holding the weak girl in her arms, and ran quickly towards the cafe.

Kaori held the young girl's cold body, yet she felt a strange and reassuring current of warmth, as if holding her is holding the whole world. In the eyes of Kaori, all the treasure in the world is not more precious than that fragile and beautiful life.

Kaori looked at her white face with a smile and felt her light body; like a feather, it seemed to dissipate at any time.

"I shall protect her."

Kaori said to herself softly.

She didn't realize at this time that she had seen the girl before.

* * *

It was love at first sight.

The first time Kato Megumi saw Miyazono Kaori she fell madly in love with her.

She met Kaori in a cafe. When she first saw Kaori, she was still lying on the sofa in the cafe and had just woke up from a coma.

She opened her eyes, and there was only a mild white light on the ceiling in her sight.

Although her memory was vague, she at least remembered the scene she saw before she lost her consciousness: the blue and clean sky and a white world covered by snow. Although there was no heat and restlessness of the midsummer, it was so chilling that there was a layer of separation between people.

However, this was not where she was now. The tables and chairs around were simple and reassuring, the warm interior was flooded with aroma of dishes, and the steam rising from the coffee cup on the table was leisurely moving in the air. Here and the outdoors were totally two worlds.

"Are you awake? Are you okay?"

In front of her came a voice full of worries.

Megumi was surprised and puzzled. She tried to sit on the green sofa with her left hand, but she couldn't support herself because she was weak. She collapsed on the sofa.

"Don't force yourself to do that."

The girl's voice said again.

Megumi slowly raised her head, and encountered her fate.

She saw a blonde girl standing in front of her. She was wearing a gray school uniform jacket, long blonde hair hanging naturally behind her head, and lovely big blue eyes staring at Megumi. The warm light behind her stood against her figure, as if her golden long hair was glowing.

Wait…

Megumi felt a strange feeling, but she could not say why.

In order not to let her worry anymore, Megumi squeezed out a smile.

Seeing her distorted face, the blonde girl's frowning brows opened and she smiled.

Megumi tilted her head back to the sofa, stared at the white ceiling, and asked softly, "Where is here?"

"Here is the cafe. I saw you fainted on the road, and saw a cafe here, so I brought you here." The blonde girl said, sighing with anxiety. "God, you'll surely freeze to death; it's frozen outside."

"Is this the cafe..." Megumi thought, while supporting herself with both hands, struggling to sit up from the sofa and began to look at the surrounding environment.

Wait, why is this place so familiar?

Couldn't it be ...

Memory flashed suddenly in Megumi's mind. That's the memory of a boy who resolutely left. That's a sad memory. That's a memory she could never forget.

No need to confirm, this is the cafe. That cafe she will never forget. No matter how its decoration changes or how the menu changes, the depressing atmosphere here can be recognized instantly.

And why does the blonde girl look so familiar? I haven't met her once, but it feels like we have known each other a long time ago.

Just like we are reincarnations of lovers.

How strange.

Megumi repressed her impulse and said blankly to the blonde girl, "Thank you. What's your name?"

"Ah, my name is Miyazono Kaori." The blonde girl answered with a smile. "then you ..."

"Miyazono Kaori?!" Megumi said in surprise, so excited that she sat up from the sofa, but the change on her face was implicit. "Are you the famous violinist ..."

That's right, it is her. This is the person I am looking for.

Megumi's heart was beating fiercely, trying to conceal her complex emotions of joy and sadness.

"Do you know me?" Kaori was surprised this time.

"Aren't you the guy who played like a maniac and won no prize? That guy isn't someone else, right?" Megumi said, expressionless and innocent like a white rabbit.

"Uh ..." Kaori was speechless. If it wasn't a weak and strange girl who said this, but her boyfriend Kousei, her "pumping bag", she really wanted to give her some punches.

Ah, Kousei ...

Why did he die so miserably ...

Kaori suddenly thought of her lover who had left, and told herself not to cry, but there were still a few tears in her eyes.

Why did he get hit by a truck when I was getting better and was about to leave the hospital ... I shouldn't have let him buy Canale ... I knew it ...

Kaori lowered her head and tried to dissemble her sadness, but still couldn't help weeping.

Megumi looked at Kaori's crying expressionlessly, and somehow felt a pain in her heart. Maybe I can comfort her, Megumi thought.

She whispered to Kaori, "I ... I'm sorry."

Kaori was somewhat surprised. "What? Why?"

"Sorry, it reminds you of sad memories of the past. I am sorry for that."

"What are you talking about ..." Kaori's heart shook, and she felt an inexplicable touch. She burst into a smile, "You don't need to apologize for my misfortune."

She knew what happened to me, Kaori thought. Why is this young girl who has never met me been paying attention to me recently?

No, it can't be said that we don't know each other, because this young girl - damn it, I just discovered it - seems familiar! Why? ...

"Don't force yourself to laugh, Miyazono Kaori." The short-haired girl smiled – maybe she didn't smile at all, because her expression hardly changed – said, "I heard someone say that, 'False tears deceive others, while false smiles deceive oneself."

"So, cry if you want." Megumi tried to smile, so that Kaori was not so depressed.

Kaori saw Megumi's strange smile - or a strange expression that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and fluttered.

"I don't want to cry now."

"Why is your mood changing faster than the weather." Megumi's voice was still slow and full of resentment.

"Uh ... okay." Kaori turned her head angrily, closed her eyes, and pursed her small mouth.

Kaoru suddenly thought of something again, turned her head back and curiously asked, "Oh, I haven't asked your name yet. What's your name?" She looked expectantly at the short-haired girl in front of her, her pupils glowing with excitement.

"Kato Megumi."

"Ah!" Kaori took a step back in surprise, "I said how you look so familiar! It turned out to be the producer of the famous Blessing Software!"

An excited look immediately appeared on her face, and the long blond hair behind her jumped up, as if it were alive.

"I've always loved your galgame! It's so touching!" She clapped her hands in excitement and said happily that her face was even flushed and she almost fainted.

"Thank you for appreciating our work. Just, please don't act like an otaku ..." Megumi said expressionlessly and helplessly.

It seems this guy is still the same this time. Easily excited, full of energy, moving forward all the time ... still the same.

Just like Tomoya.

Wait, Tomoya ...

Megumi suddenly remembered something unpleasant, but she was still very calm on the surface.

She slowly put her hands on the table and smiled and said to Kaori, "Miss Miyazono Kaori, please sit down and talk."

Kaori smiled embarrassedly, and while walking to the sofa to sit down, she asked: "Oh Megu-chan, I heard that something happened recently on your club. What happened?"

Megumi suddenly felt a pain in her heart. Her hands on the table tightened instantly, her brows twisted, but she still kept her calm expression forcibly.

"I broke up with Tomoya."

She answered flatly.

"What?! Impossible!" Kaori enlarged her eyes and screamed in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing to say. He had his goals, and I had my desire." Megumi waved her hand and replied casually. Her eyes were on the snowflakes outside the window.

"So ... what about your galgame? Will you continue to do it?" Kaori still couldn't believe it and asked eagerly.

"What do you think?" Megumi raised her eyebrows and raised a question slowly, seemingly indifferent.

"..."

"Maybe I'm not suitable for any galgame, because I actually ..." Megumi lowered her head and looked at her hands. "... I don't really understand love."

"Don't understand love? Ahh ..." Kaori looked at Megumi in surprise.

"Really so. I just want to accompany him to play games and accompany him to pursue that dream - just because I think he is very interesting." Megumi sighed, "I don't know if it counts as love."

"Perhaps, I have always pinned my dream on him."

Kaori frowned, partly because of sympathy and partly because she couldn't understand.

"You frowned," Megumi said suddenly.

Kaori was almost scared to stand up immediately. Didn't she lower her head? How did she know I frowned?

"How did you know ..."

"Actually, when I lowered my head," Megumi looked up at the surprised Kaori in front of her and covered her mouth, "I have been watching you secretly."

What made Kaori even more surprised was that there was an uncontrollable blush on her face. With that happy smile, it's like ...

It's like estrus.

"You, you, you ..." Kaori immediately turned nervous, leaning her back tightly on the sofa, looking at Megumi with strangeness, "Aren't you a perverted girl, what do you want to do ..."

"It is you who are perverted," Megumi retorted politely.

"..."

Kaori pouted angrily, but couldn't think of a word.

"Then let's drink coffee," Megumi said with a smile. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Really?!" Kaoru immediately became excited as soon as she heard of food, and her eyes sparkled, "My favorite apple pie here! Okay!"

"By the way," Kaori suddenly remembered something, and asked in confusion, "Who pays?"

Megumi smiled softly and said, "My treat."

"What?!"

"Just as my thanks to you." Megumi still had that smile on her face, and the blush appeared again. "After all, there are not many opportunities to see such a beautiful and energetic girl eating foods!"

"Okay ..." Kaori reluctantly agreed, and then laughed.

Megumi also laughed and covered her mouth.

* * *

"Oh, I'm full! Thank you so much, Megumi!"

Kaori happily wiped her mouth with a tissue, closed her eyes, and smiled at Megumi beside her.

"How could you eat so much ..." Megumi's expression was awkward, "I don't want to see you become a debu*."

"Okay ..." Kaori smiled, trying to get rid of the problem.

Oops, I almost forgot!

Megumi suddenly remembered an important thing.

"By the way, should we make friends?" She tried to overcome her shyness and pretended to say easily.

"Ah?" Kaori was still immersed in the deliciousness just now, and was surprised by such a question. "To make friends?"

"Yeah," Megmi explained with a sweet smile, explaining, "You see, you lost Kousei, and I lost Tomoya; this cannot simply be a coincidence."

If only it were a coincidence.

"So, maybe heaven let us have a chance to meet here." Megumi put her right hand on the left, "Maybe we can be together so that we won't be alone."

She sneaked a glance at Kaori and found that the latter's face turned red for some reason.

"Okay ... Okay!" Kaori got rid of the embarrassment just now, and laughed heartily. "Let's make friends, it's my second harvest today. It's my honour to make friends with such a beautiful and gentle Miss Kato."

She said, holding Megumi's right hand with her left.

"I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, so we will not be alone." Kaori said with emotion.

"Nice to meet you."

A lively voice said.

"Nice to meet you."

A calm voice repeated.

The two exchanged phone numbers quickly and separated at the door.

"See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow."

Kaori did not realize that at the moment she said that sentence, Megumi had bitterness and in her eyes.

Like a mother watching her child reaching out into the fire.

* * *

The stars in the night sky shone everything, the blonde girl, and the short-haired girl.

The blonde girl was lying on the pink bed. Although her eyes were closed, her lips were slightly raised and her brows were relaxed.

She was lying on a soft green lawn, listening to the murmur of the stream, watching the bright, warm sun in the sky, and the young girl lying beside her, smiling at her. Even without saying a word, she could feel her happy mood.

She looked, smiled happily, and closed her eyes.

The girl with short hair lay on the white bed, her eyes closed, but her brows furrowed, her lips twitching.

She was kneeling on a cold gray concrete floor, feeling the dead silence, watching the blonde girl lying on the ground, groaning in pain, and the red blood flowing from her body. Like a dying mandala.

As she watched, she wept bitterly and closed her eyes.

She had a book open in her hand.

On the cover of the book were two men walking side by side.

The book read:

"A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green..."

* * *

*Japanese, chubby.


End file.
